His reaction was prompted by the notion that this team -- once so dynamic and dramatic -- had lost its mojo over the past month.

But after the Blazers lost 105-94 on Tuesday to Sacramento -- tying a season-high five-game losing streak -- what else was there to surmise about a team that no longer comes up with the big shot, the key defensive stop, or the decisive hustle play?

Webster didn't have an answer, which put him in the same boat as the rest of his teammates, who once again left the locker room wondering what has gone wrong in a season where so many things have gone so right.

"It's just this past month, we ... we ... I don't know what it is, but we gotta find it," center Joel Przybilla said. "The swagger, the mojo, whatever you want to call it, we don't have it any more."

If there is any consolation to Tuesday's loss, as opposed to the stretch of nine losses in 12 games, was that the Blazers could at least point to two definitive reasons why they came up short: Sacramento's Ron Artest was a beast to guard and the Kings hurt the Blazers with timely offensive rebounds.

Artest had 24 points while being guarded by an ailing Brandon Roy for most of the game, with spot checks by LaMarcus Aldridge and Travis Outlaw, and the Kings grabbed 45 rebounds, 12 offensive.

"We had no answer for (Artest)," coach Nate McMillan said. "We did everything except put Joel on him. Brandon started on him, Travis had him, LaMarcus guarded him, we double-teammed him, we zoned him ..."

There was also the fact that Roy, coming off his first All-Star performance, played ill for the third time this season. This time it was a viral infection in his chest, but unlike the previous two games when he excelled while playing under the weather, Roy was decidedly off his game, hitting 5-of-18 shots on his way to an 11-point, 8-rebound, six-assist performance.

Roy was unavailable for comment after the game because he was being examined by team doctor Tom Reis.

"He was a little sluggish tonight," McMillan said.

It was not, however, a sluggish effort by the Blazers, a malady that had affected them leading up to last week's All-Star break. The wishful thinking was that the five-day break would refresh the team and point them toward a late-season run at what has to now be considered a fading playoff push.

The Blazers (28-25) showed more life - playing an effective first half in which they shot 51 percent and had just four turnovers. Even so, they found themselves tied with Sacramento (24-28), one of the few Western Conference teams which reside below the Blazers.

There were spurts in the second half when the Blazers looked like they were regaining that intangible magic that had lifted them to such a sterling 20-6 home record. Webster started banging down threes in transition, and Travis Outlaw started hitting from all points on the court.

In fact, for a time, it looked like a vintage Blazers comeback, as a 74-65 fourth quarter deficit was erased in a frenzied four-minute span, during which the Blazers stormed back to take an 81-79 lead with 7:11 left after Webster hit the third of his four three-pointers.

But then the bugaboos of this game -- Artest and rebounding -- came back to haunt them. Brad Miller rebounded his own shot - which was blocked by LaMarcus Aldridge -- and banked it back in while being fouled by Aldridge. He made the free throw, putting the Kings up 89-86 with 5:06 left. The Blazers never got closer than one after that as the Kings finished the game by scoring on 12 of their final 13 possessions.

"The most important thing about this is taking something important away from it," said Webster, who finished with 18 points. "Taking something that hurts from this and using it to prevent it from happening again. Because I'm not going to lie, that's a game we should have won."

Outside of Webster's long-range shooting and Outlaw's improvising (23 points on 11-of-18 shooting), the Blazers had little offensive answers. Jarrett Jack, who was reinserted into the starting lineup in place of Webster, tied his career-high with 11 assists, but he shot 2-for-11. And Aldridge, who has slowly drifted into anonymity on offense, went 5-for-11 and scored four of his 12 points in the second half.

"The best thing about this league is that there is always another game within the next 24 or 48 hours," Webster said. "So we know we will have chance to correct things. Because we know we can play better than this."

And perhaps, some way, some how, find that mojo again.

"It only takes one game," Steve Blake said. "Winning is just a lot of little things, and right now, we are not doing the little things."